Beverly hated flying. She hated the cramped seats. She hated the two-hour wait before boarding. She hated the intrusiveness of the security. She hated the feeling of being packed like a sardine in an aluminum can. Above all, she hated having to keep her voice down. She had a loud voice and was very proud of it. She saw politeness and timidity as signs of weakness and hypocrisy. She had a mind of her own, didn’t she? Why shouldn’t she let people know what she was thinking, and if it happened to come out loud, then so what? It took hardly any time for someone to figure out that the word “passive” had nothing at all to do with Beverly. She also hated the idea of anyone telling her what to do, which included boyfriends, husbands, bosses, the police, and above all rail-thin, plastic-smiling, uppity stewardesses. On her last flight, a flight attendant “politely” explained the meaning and punishment for the Federal Offense of interfering with a flight crew, so she kept her mouth shut and just glared at anyone and everyone.
When a youngish attractive woman made her way down the aisle, Beverly began to glare at her. The woman stopped three rows ahead, directly in front of Beverly, and lifted her suitcase to the overhead compartment. That’s when Beverly saw it.
As the woman stretched to push the suitcase into the compartment, her sleeve pulled back, exposing the form-fitting plate strapped to her left forearm. A Memorite!
“Jim!” Beverly knew she couldn’t use a loud voice like she usually spoke with, but she could whisper. The trouble is her whisper—so some said—could wake the dead. It certainly woke her husband, who was just nodding off next to her.
“What! What!”
“Look up there,” she whispered quickly.
Waiting for more details than just “up there,” Jim stared at her.
“Up where?” he sat up, knowing that it would be some time before he’d be able to take a much-needed nap. He’d been up since three am getting everything ready for this early flight, and he was exhausted.
“Up there in front of us, that woman in the cream duster.”
Now Jim was wondering if he was even awake at all. “Bev, why would anyone want to dust, cream?”
“You moron!” she spat through her teeth, “right in front of us, dark, braided hair.”
Jim looked. The woman his wife was referring to was fairly attractive, so he decided to indulge his wife’s nosiness by taking an extra-long look. The woman had finished putting her suitcase in the compartment and took a few seconds to straighten out her clothing. Someone wanted by so she stepped to the edge of the aisle and let them pass. As she did so her head turned and she looked straight at Jim. There was a reason Jim was married to Beverly, he was very sure of himself and took life with good humor. He smiled at the woman, in as much of a non-flirting smile that he could muster. At first, she just stared without changing expressions, then gave a polite smile back, and let her gaze drift away.
“I said look, not undress her with your eyes!” Beverly slapped Jim across the arm.
“Well, make up yer mind. So what’s so all-fired important about her anyway? Seems like a nice enough girl.”
“She’s...,” Beverly paused and lowered her voice even further, “she’s a Memorite.”
“So what do I care what religion she is?” asked Jim. He knew full well what a Memorite was, but wanted to get back at his wife for waking him up.
“I saw her get here only a few minutes before the plane boarded. I was wondering why she didn’t have to go through security. Did you know they didn’t make Memorites go through security? I wonder what she’s doing here. I thought those Memorites had their own planes and stuff. Doesn’t seem right making us wait two hours and having to be poked and prodded by those flunky security people, and she gets to just waltz on in. Did I tell you Kim had to work with one of them last year? She said they give her the creeps. If you ask me, I agree with her. Something’s not natural with them. That thing on her arm there, is that some kind of implant? There’s no telling how much of her is real and how much of her is some sort of ungodly machinery. That’s probably why they rushed her through security, all them robot parts probably woulda set off the metal detectors. No telling what she can do with them things. For all we know she could have some kinda weapon hidden in there an’ kill us all before the plane landed. Why in the world would they put all the passengers in such danger? I have half a mind to write to the head of the airlines when we land and give them a piece of my mind. Although that is a darling duster she’s wearing. I wonder where she got that. D’you think that would look good on me Jim?”
Beverly turned to her husband to find him deep asleep. She hadn’t even noticed his snoring. She started to dig her elbows in his ribs but changed her mind. She turned and pouted...and glared.